Social representations of collective imaginary in accounting

Abstract

This article is a synthesis of the approach adopted in the research cárnea out by the author upon completion of her Master's Degree at Universidade de São Paulo - USP, regarding the perception that society as a whole hás about the accountant and Accounting. For characterizing and studying such a perception, the author relied upon Jung's analytical psychology (1969;2001) and writers such as Moscovici (1978;1989), as well as on the study of outstanding names in Accounting, thus making it possible to convert the study focus to what was called Social Representations. According to Moscovici (1981, p.181), "social representations can be understood as a set of concepts, propositions and explanations oríginated in everyday life in the course of interpersonal Communications." In order to research on and identify such representations, the phenomenological method was chosen, by which one tries to show a direct description of the experience as it is, that is, the reality that is socially built and understood based upon how the communicated message was understood and interpreted. Through the research it was found how much biased is the perception regarding the relationship between the accountant, Accounting and the user within the field of study proposed by the Accounting Science, which can even turn to be constituted of great imaginative power, whether consciously or not. Also, such a relationship is characterized by a dilemma which is continuously exercised by the trio accountant, Accounting and the user, and shows itself in the tenuous position taken by each one of its vertexes. In this relationship, a dialogue takes place sometimes praising and sometimes repulsing both the accountant and Accounting.